Second is a paper by Neylan McBain on the issue of gender-based roles within the Church, especially within its so-called hierarchy, wherein she very expertly advises Mormons to stop trying to play the men and women's authority and callings within the Church are equal card, as it destroys our credibility with any who actually know something about the way things work in the Church. She suggests that we refrain from describing men and women's roles within the Church according to a secular paradigm of power and instead describe these roles according to a cooperative paradigm. She also gives a number of excellent suggestions on how women and girls can be better involved in all levels of service in the wards and stakes.

And for August 3rd, we have a very interesting piece by a non-Mormon on the similarities in the way believing Mormons, heterodox Mormons, and former Mormons discuss their conversion and de-conversion stories. That a non-Mormon would want to participate at the annual conference of Mormon apologetics is an indication of the ever-increasing importance of Mormon apologetics and scholarship in the minds of serious academics. Hugh Nibley, the god-father of modern Mormon scholarship (and Mormonism's preeminent apologist) would no doubt be happy at such a turn of events.